FCC Proposal Seen Slashing Cost of Making Classroom Connection

Local school officials were cautiously optimistic last week that a
proposal to open up a portion of the radio airwaves to make it easier
and cheaper for computers to communicate with one another and with the
Internet might help dramatically expand educational use of
telecommunications.

Under the rule proposed by the Federal Communications Commission,
which will soon be published in the Federal Register, the portion of
the radio spectrum would be opened up for free, unlicensed use. That
change could greatly reduce the cost of bridging the "last mile"
between the classroom and the information-rich world of
telecommunications.

Currently, schools that want to log on to the global Internet
computer network often must be rewired. The estimates for "hard wiring"
the nation's schools vary widely, but most begin in the tens of
billions of dollars. (See Education Week, March 2, 1994.)

Although the FCC action is designed primarily to encourage
technology companies to develop products to harness the newly freed
spectrum, the use of an inexpensive wireless system could be a boon to
cash-strapped districts trying to implement technology plans, some
administrators said.

James Caradonio, the deputy superintendent of the Worcester, Mass.,
public schools, said that renovation and construction costs typically
are a major stumbling block to proposals to wire schools for
telecommunications. Such costs represent a large fraction of his
district's $15 million, long-range networking plan, he said.

"The issue is really an infrastructure problem where low-tech meets
high-tech," he said.

President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore frequently have called
on the telecommunications industry to help wire every classroom for
access to the information highway by 2000.

But the high cost of running wires through the halls of aging school
buildings that were designed long before electronic communications were
an everyday reality remains a deterrent.

Moreover, many school districts are reluctant to undertake expensive
construction projects that could disturb potentially hazardous asbestos
that lies dormant in many buildings.

"That's really the concern that we have," Mr. Caradonio said. "The
retrofit of buildings without breaking the bank to meet electrical
codes and everything else."

The wireless solution, such as the proposed FCC rule would permit,
would reduce the cost by allowing computers to communicate throughout a
building or across a campus over the airwaves. Schools could tap into
the Internet through a single high-speed connection.

Some Drawbacks

Wireless communications are already used in everything from cellular
telephones to garage-door openers to nursery monitors. And
telecommunications companies specializing in wireless products have
begun courting schools with the promise that they can provide students
with access to the Internet and other services at a fraction of the
cost of wiring buildings. (See Education Week, May 10, 1995.)

But the FCC's move would improve upon the wireless technologies now
available to schools.

Schools in Florida, where booming enrollments have forced many
students into portable classrooms, are already using wireless telephone
modems to provide telecommunications services to the temporary
buildings. The wireless versions do not have the capacity of
conventional modems, however, and therefore cannot distribute
information as rapidly.

And, said Chris Master, the executive director of instructional
technology for the Dade County, Fla., schools, telephone companies
consider each existing cellular linkup to be a separate phone line--and
charge accordingly.

The district already plans to spend $50 million on conventional
rewiring, and "we have not figured out how existing wireless services
are really going to solve our problems," Ms. Master said.

The industry will also need to create devices capable of using the
newly freed-up airwaves.

Some experts cautioned, however, that unlicensed radio
communications have their own drawbacks, including the possibility of
interference from other, nearby unlicensed equipment. The FCC hopes its
technical standards will minimize that problem.

Mr. Caradonio and others also noted that many schools are not even
equipped with sufficient electrical outlets to take advantage of the
new technology when it comes.

"This is the reality of the information age," he said. "Once you get
down to the classroom level, it's 'We don't have any plugs, Mr.
Caradonio.'"

The FCC issued its proposed guidelines in response to petitions
filed a year ago by Apple Computer Inc. and the Wireless Information
Networks Forum, or WINForum, a group of wireless-communications
companies.

A final regulation is expected by the end of the year.

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